The night started out fantastic. I was excited to get sushi for dinner, and more excited to try out a new restaurant. Looked at the menu beforehand, and definitely not traditional, but the menu looked good.
When we arrived there only 4 tables seated and 3 people at the bar. So I thought SCORE, no one goes out to eat on a Monday.
We were greeted politely, and got seated quickly. Then the waiter came…..
I asked a few questions about the appetizers, and seemed like a kid that didn’t study for the exam. I asked if the steam buns were good. He said yes, that we had a few options about what was in them and they were squishy. He tried to explain the sauce but stopped and trailed off after “something tangy”.
We ordered the pork belly stem buns, and when they came out I was a little surprised that they were steam tacos not buns. But the dough seemed close and the pork belly was cooked well. Not a lot of flavor other than pork, the sauce was a very sweet Asian bbq sauce, and it was refrigerator cold.
When the waiter came back to take our entree order, we asked what the special was. I was met with a blank stare. He did know that the noodle special was a chicken lo mein. But the other specials he had no idea. He ran off to get the answer. When he came back he couldn’t remember what they were, but he gave a valiant effort to remember. He finally gave up and just stared at us.
I ordered the bang bang roll with salmon nigiri and my husband got the bento. He was told that the burger had fried onions, cheese, and bbq sauce.
The waiter came to refill the drinks, and poured soda on the table.
The entrees came out and mine was plated beautifully. It really was a very appetizing plate.
My husband’s had a completely different burger on it. He said that the special burger was actually a blue cheese burger…my husband hates blue cheese. The waiter quickly got a new basic burger made.
I dug into the nigiri, and it was delightful. The salmon was a little thin, but the quality was fantastic. After that I was excited roll. It was described as a California roll topped with fried shrimp covered in bang bang sauce. I was a little surprised that they had fried the shrimp whole and cut it into cubes.
I grab a small piece of shrimp and it’s cold. When the waiter comes back I ask if that’s intentional, and he says it should be hot. He asks the kitchen to remake it.
A few moments later the new burger comes out. It was technically a slider. A round bun with a triangle shaped hockey puck. The condiments, none. The cheese, a postage stamp size of cheddar. Was it juicy? NO. Did it taste good, No.
Along with the triangle of disappointment, the bento box had overcooked salted edamame, two stuck together clumps of fries (obviously from frozen fries), and the saddest spicy tuna roll I have ever seen. This roll was 2/3 cucumber and the smallest slice of tuna physically possible in a roll covered in spicy mayo.
Keep in mind this entree cost $26.
While my husband was eating my remade roll arrived. The waiter said he was sorry. The kitchen told him that they prep the shrimp ahead of time, and don’t fry to order.
I try the shrimp again, cold. The California roll had no avocado, and the cream cheese, kani, cucumber, and mosago was mixed into this weird slaw texture. The rice was so thin around the roll that it wouldn’t hold together.
I had two bites and set it aside.
So to recap, we have had better sushi from Publix, a better burger from White Castle, and better sides from Burger King.
This was not worth the money, and I will not be going back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
Trey Avery
Go for the Sushi....nuff said
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shania Johnson
Showed up on a Wednesday, there was barely anyone there. Did an online order. My order said it was ready at 6:18. Didn’t get my order until 6:40. Host acted like she had no idea what I was talking about when I said I had an online order
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Daniel Presnell
Amazing sushi experience. Not only were the sushi chef's artists, they were kind and the food was delicious. It is pricey, but for once, worth it. Will definitely visit again hopefully soon.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Haley Ward
We are semi regulars, not from Hickory but live an hour away and often choose to eat here, we were looking forward to a much needed girls lunch after a rough few months. We got there and immediately was told by the young man hostess that he'd be right with us. After 15 minutes he finally came back and stated how can he help us, how many etc it was 2 of us. Then he said it would be about 30 minutes before we could be seated. We said that was fine but upset we had already been waiting for so long. Another couple already waiting before us said they had been there a while waiting too. We assumed it was staff issues since there was maybe 5 tables occupied. We waited outside maybe 25-30 minutes and was finally seated but not before the hostess asked us what time it was and we told him. And the he asked if we wanted lunch or breakfast. It was already 1:15 by this time and we knew they closed at 2. We said umm lunch then he was confused and said ok good cause we're out....we were like uh okay.... The he said do you still want a table again, we said yes. We actually didn't know they offered breakfast. He acted like he was on something or was trying to get us to leave. It was strange and the other couple agreed. Our waitress was polite but never got refills and it was another 15 minutes after being seated that we were able to order. We would have got apps, drinks etc but was never given the chance. Food was good (both got bento box) but Mongolian beef was so tough it wasn't edible. For the money we pay eating here (my food alone was $30 and basic small portion.) you should expect better service. We were both filming for tiktok that day and combined would have had 40,000+ viewers on both our channels but after the wierd hostess and bad service we didn't want recommend this place to anyone. Despite the good food. We only showed a brief clip of the food and my friend actual told her viewers that food was good but service was awful. It was like everyone wanted us to not be there. I may think again before spending money there again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Kim Hemphill
My husband and I joined some friends for lunch today. They hadn’t ever eaten here before so they were excited to give it a try and went on the website to get an idea of what might interest them before arriving. Two of the items they were looking forward to ordering were no longer on the menu. We were ready to order only to be told that it was just our server and one other for the entire restaurant. It was a steady flow of patrons so there wasn’t any promptness in bringing our refills. My friend wanted to order the mandarin salad only to be told that they were out of salad mix! That should have been mentioned from the get go. I had ordered the Power Bowl from my previous visit and was told that the menu had changed. I had to decide how I would cross order from the poke bowl and bento box as the power bowl offered items from the two new selections. My husband ordered the chicken avocado sandwich only to have no avocado, cheese, and bacon as requested. Again, because our server was only one of two servers it took a while for him to get it corrected. By that time, his sandwich was cold.
I would suggest that the online menu be updated and that the server should inform patrons if any items are unavailable before ordering.
For lunch totaling $42 Plus tip, the chances of us returning are very slim to none.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Abdulrazack Oketona
Great Food 👍
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nicole Walden
Would not go back if it was free. My chicken was overcooked and rubbery. The food/service was extremely slow.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Devin Webb
Mediocre sushi. Especially for the price, this should be a lot better. Also, if you have dietary restrictions, they're clueless. I don't think the food they served me was good for any price point, much less on the expensive side.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
AlongfortheThrill
My friend and I got sushi, a salad, and the szechuan chicken. I expected it to be good, but it was way better than expected. My sushi was some of the best I've ever had, and I've eaten more than my fair share. Fresh, bite sized, high quality. The salad was also fresh and tossed in the dressing very well and was delicious. Service was fast and our waitress was very sweet. We will definitely be coming back when in the area!
Impressed by the variety of sushi choices, great location and wonderful atmosphere as well as staff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Johan Scheepers
Love this place. Food is fantastic.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Randy Withers
Won’t be going back here again, and I want at least a partial refund for what I will charitably describe as a D- experience at a place that should easily have earned a solid A. I’ll speak to some positives in a bit, but problems began when it took them a solid 15 minutes to bring my girlfriend’s drink. No excuse for that. We sat outside and our table kept getting swarmed with flies. Now, it’s not their fault that flies exist, but for that price point, they damn well better come up with a solution like a fan or something so customers don’t feel like they are eating in a horse stable. Then there was my awful meal. I got the bento box. A 28 dollar entree and for that money things had better be perfect. They were not. Bland shrimp tempura sushi with no soy sauce or chopsticks even offered. And the “slider” was well named because it was a warm hockey puck that had clearly been under a heat lamp for an hour. I should have slid it out into the street. I would have complained to the manager had someone bothered to ask about the quality of the food, but that didn’t happen, so here I am on this public forum because your staff can’t do their job. The Thai cucumbers and the sweet fries that came with the bento box were great, but that slider and sushi were embarrassing. McDonald’s level embarrassing. Again, if you’re gonna charge an obscene amount of money for sub par food swarmed by flies, you’d better have the waiter or the manager at least pretend to care about whether you are enjoying your meal. The Madness in Morganton is a superior restaurant in every way that sells a better Bento Box for 40% less. Cowa-Sake should be mortified. I ended up spending well over 100 dollars to have a crap meal, but hey at least the flies seemed to enjoy it. I have half a mind to contact the health inspector. I can’t stand pretentious restaurants that have worse quality control measures than the average Arby’s. Stay away. There are plenty of better options in the area.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Tay
Delicious sushi. Definitely recommend! Great service as well
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alex O'Connell
They have been on fire recently! Always good and love to see them growing! We come here often. Thanks!
The night started out fantastic. I was excited to get sushi for dinner, and more excited to try out a new restaurant. Looked at the menu beforehand, and definitely not traditional, but the menu looked good.
When we arrived there only 4 tables seated and 3 people at the bar. So I thought SCORE, no one goes out to eat on a Monday.
We were greeted politely, and got seated quickly. Then the waiter came…..
I asked a few questions about the appetizers, and seemed like a kid that didn’t study for the exam. I asked if the steam buns were good. He said yes, that we had a few options about what was in them and they were squishy. He tried to explain the sauce but stopped and trailed off after “something tangy”.
We ordered the pork belly stem buns, and when they came out I was a little surprised that they were steam tacos not buns. But the dough seemed close and the pork belly was cooked well. Not a lot of flavor other than pork, the sauce was a very sweet Asian bbq sauce, and it was refrigerator cold.
When the waiter came back to take our entree order, we asked what the special was. I was met with a blank stare. He did know that the noodle special was a chicken lo mein. But the other specials he had no idea. He ran off to get the answer. When he came back he couldn’t remember what they were, but he gave a valiant effort to remember. He finally gave up and just stared at us.
I ordered the bang bang roll with salmon nigiri and my husband got the bento. He was told that the burger had fried onions, cheese, and bbq sauce.
The waiter came to refill the drinks, and poured soda on the table.
The entrees came out and mine was plated beautifully. It really was a very appetizing plate.
My husband’s had a completely different burger on it. He said that the special burger was actually a blue cheese burger…my husband hates blue cheese. The waiter quickly got a new basic burger made.
I dug into the nigiri, and it was delightful. The salmon was a little thin, but the quality was fantastic. After that I was excited roll. It was described as a California roll topped with fried shrimp covered in bang bang sauce. I was a little surprised that they had fried the shrimp whole and cut it into cubes.
I grab a small piece of shrimp and it’s cold. When the waiter comes back I ask if that’s intentional, and he says it should be hot. He asks the kitchen to remake it.
A few moments later the new burger comes out. It was technically a slider. A round bun with a triangle shaped hockey puck. The condiments, none. The cheese, a postage stamp size of cheddar. Was it juicy? NO. Did it taste good, No.
Along with the triangle of disappointment, the bento box had overcooked salted edamame, two stuck together clumps of fries (obviously from frozen fries), and the saddest spicy tuna roll I have ever seen. This roll was 2/3 cucumber and the smallest slice of tuna physically possible in a roll covered in spicy mayo.
Keep in mind this entree cost $26.
While my husband was eating my remade roll arrived. The waiter said he was sorry. The kitchen told him that they prep the shrimp ahead of time, and don’t fry to order.
I try the shrimp again, cold. The California roll had no avocado, and the cream cheese, kani, cucumber, and mosago was mixed into this weird slaw texture. The rice was so thin around the roll that it wouldn’t hold together.
I had two bites and set it aside.
So to recap, we have had better sushi from Publix, a better burger from White Castle, and better sides from Burger King.
This was not worth the money, and I will not be going back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
Go for the Sushi....nuff said
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Showed up on a Wednesday, there was barely anyone there. Did an online order. My order said it was ready at 6:18. Didn’t get my order until 6:40. Host acted like she had no idea what I was talking about when I said I had an online order
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Amazing sushi experience. Not only were the sushi chef's artists, they were kind and the food was delicious. It is pricey, but for once, worth it. Will definitely visit again hopefully soon.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We are semi regulars, not from Hickory but live an hour away and often choose to eat here, we were looking forward to a much needed girls lunch after a rough few months. We got there and immediately was told by the young man hostess that he'd be right with us. After 15 minutes he finally came back and stated how can he help us, how many etc it was 2 of us. Then he said it would be about 30 minutes before we could be seated. We said that was fine but upset we had already been waiting for so long. Another couple already waiting before us said they had been there a while waiting too. We assumed it was staff issues since there was maybe 5 tables occupied. We waited outside maybe 25-30 minutes and was finally seated but not before the hostess asked us what time it was and we told him. And the he asked if we wanted lunch or breakfast. It was already 1:15 by this time and we knew they closed at 2. We said umm lunch then he was confused and said ok good cause we're out....we were like uh okay.... The he said do you still want a table again, we said yes. We actually didn't know they offered breakfast. He acted like he was on something or was trying to get us to leave. It was strange and the other couple agreed. Our waitress was polite but never got refills and it was another 15 minutes after being seated that we were able to order. We would have got apps, drinks etc but was never given the chance. Food was good (both got bento box) but Mongolian beef was so tough it wasn't edible. For the money we pay eating here (my food alone was $30 and basic small portion.) you should expect better service. We were both filming for tiktok that day and combined would have had 40,000+ viewers on both our channels but after the wierd hostess and bad service we didn't want recommend this place to anyone. Despite the good food. We only showed a brief clip of the food and my friend actual told her viewers that food was good but service was awful. It was like everyone wanted us to not be there. I may think again before spending money there again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
My husband and I joined some friends for lunch today. They hadn’t ever eaten here before so they were excited to give it a try and went on the website to get an idea of what might interest them before arriving. Two of the items they were looking forward to ordering were no longer on the menu. We were ready to order only to be told that it was just our server and one other for the entire restaurant. It was a steady flow of patrons so there wasn’t any promptness in bringing our refills. My friend wanted to order the mandarin salad only to be told that they were out of salad mix! That should have been mentioned from the get go. I had ordered the Power Bowl from my previous visit and was told that the menu had changed. I had to decide how I would cross order from the poke bowl and bento box as the power bowl offered items from the two new selections. My husband ordered the chicken avocado sandwich only to have no avocado, cheese, and bacon as requested. Again, because our server was only one of two servers it took a while for him to get it corrected. By that time, his sandwich was cold.
I would suggest that the online menu be updated and that the server should inform patrons if any items are unavailable before ordering.
For lunch totaling $42 Plus tip, the chances of us returning are very slim to none.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Great Food 👍
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Would not go back if it was free. My chicken was overcooked and rubbery. The food/service was extremely slow.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Mediocre sushi. Especially for the price, this should be a lot better. Also, if you have dietary restrictions, they're clueless. I don't think the food they served me was good for any price point, much less on the expensive side.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
My friend and I got sushi, a salad, and the szechuan chicken. I expected it to be good, but it was way better than expected. My sushi was some of the best I've ever had, and I've eaten more than my fair share. Fresh, bite sized, high quality. The salad was also fresh and tossed in the dressing very well and was delicious. Service was fast and our waitress was very sweet. We will definitely be coming back when in the area!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Impressed by the variety of sushi choices, great location and wonderful atmosphere as well as staff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Love this place. Food is fantastic.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Won’t be going back here again, and I want at least a partial refund for what I will charitably describe as a D- experience at a place that should easily have earned a solid A. I’ll speak to some positives in a bit, but problems began when it took them a solid 15 minutes to bring my girlfriend’s drink. No excuse for that. We sat outside and our table kept getting swarmed with flies. Now, it’s not their fault that flies exist, but for that price point, they damn well better come up with a solution like a fan or something so customers don’t feel like they are eating in a horse stable. Then there was my awful meal. I got the bento box. A 28 dollar entree and for that money things had better be perfect. They were not. Bland shrimp tempura sushi with no soy sauce or chopsticks even offered. And the “slider” was well named because it was a warm hockey puck that had clearly been under a heat lamp for an hour. I should have slid it out into the street. I would have complained to the manager had someone bothered to ask about the quality of the food, but that didn’t happen, so here I am on this public forum because your staff can’t do their job. The Thai cucumbers and the sweet fries that came with the bento box were great, but that slider and sushi were embarrassing. McDonald’s level embarrassing. Again, if you’re gonna charge an obscene amount of money for sub par food swarmed by flies, you’d better have the waiter or the manager at least pretend to care about whether you are enjoying your meal. The Madness in Morganton is a superior restaurant in every way that sells a better Bento Box for 40% less. Cowa-Sake should be mortified. I ended up spending well over 100 dollars to have a crap meal, but hey at least the flies seemed to enjoy it. I have half a mind to contact the health inspector. I can’t stand pretentious restaurants that have worse quality control measures than the average Arby’s. Stay away. There are plenty of better options in the area.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Delicious sushi. Definitely recommend! Great service as well
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
They have been on fire recently! Always good and love to see them growing! We come here often. Thanks!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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